This invention relates generally to electromagnetic flowmeters wherein excitation current for the electromagnetic coil is a low-frequency wave, and more particularly to a flowmeter converter connected to the flowmeter electrodes which includes a delayed automatic gain or smoothing network for suppressing excessive noise.
In an electromagnetic flowmeter, the liquid whose flow rate is to be measured is conducted through a flow tube provided with a pair of diametrically-opposed electrodes, a magnetic field perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the tube being established by an electromagnet. When the flowing liquid intersects this field, a voltage is induced therein which is transferred to the electrodes. This voltage, which is proportional to the average velocity of the liquid and hence to its average volumetric rate, is then amplified and processed in a converter to actuate a recorder or indicator.
The magnetic field may be either direct or alternating in nature, for in either event the amplitude of voltage induced in the liquid passing through the field will be a function of its flow rate. However, when operating with direct magnetic flux, the D-C signal current flowing through the liquid acts to polarize the electrodes, the magnitude of polarization being proportional to the time integral of the polarization current. With alternating magnetic flux operation, polarization is rendered negligible, for the resultant signal current is alternating and therefore its integral does not build up with time.
Though A-C operation as disclosed, for example, in the Cushing U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,439 is clearly advantageous in that polarization is obviated and the A-C flow induced signal may be more easily amplified, it has distinct drawbacks. The use of an alternating flux introduces spurious voltages that are unrelated to flow rate and, if untreated, give rise to inaccurate indications. The two spurious voltages that normally are most troublesome are:
1. stray capacitance-coupled voltages from the coil of the electromagnet to the electrodes, and
2. induced loop voltages in the input leads. The electrodes and leads in combination with the liquid extending therebetween constitute a loop in which is induced a voltage from the changing flux of the magnetic coil.
The spurious voltages from the first source may be minimized by electrostatic shielding and by low-frequency excitation of the magnet to cause the impedance of the stray coupling capacitance to be large. But the spurious voltage from the second source is much more difficult to suppress.
The spurious voltage resulting from the flux coupling into the signal leads is usually referred to as the quadrature voltage, for it is assumed to be 90.degree. out of phase with the A-C flow-induced voltage. Actual tests have indicated that this is not true in that a component exists in-phase with the flow-induced voltage. Hence, that portion of the "quadrature voltage" that is in-phase with the flow-induced voltage signal constitutes an undesirable signal that cannot readily be distinguished from the flow-induced signal, thereby producing a changing zero shift effect.
Pure "quadrature" voltage has heretofore been minimized by an electronic arrangement adapted to buck out this component, but elimination of its in-phase component has not been successful. Existing A-C operated electromagnet flowmeters are also known to vary their calibration as a function of temperature, fluid conductivity, pressure and other effects which can alter the spurious voltage both with respect to phase and magnitude. Hence it becomes necessary periodically to manually re-zero the meter to correct for the effect on zero by the above-described phenomena.
All of the adverse effects encountered in A-C operation of electromagnetic flowmeters can be attributed to the rate of change of the flux field (d.phi.)/dt, serving to induce unwanted signals in the pick-up loop. If, therefore, the rate of change of the flux field could be reduced to zero value, then the magnitude of quadrature and of its in-phase component would become non-existent. Zero drift effects would disappear.
When the magnetic flux field is a steady state field, as, for example, with continuous d-c operation, the ideal condition (d.phi.)/dt=0 is satisfied. But, as previously noted, d-c operation to create a steady state field is not acceptable, for galvanic potentials are produced and polarization is encountered.
In the patent to Mannherz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,783,687, whose entire disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed an electromagnetic flowmeter in which the excitation current for the electromagnetic coil is a low-frequency wave serving to produce a periodically-reversed steady state flux field, whereby unwanted in-phase and quadrature components are minimized without giving rise to polarization and galvanic effects. This low frequency wave is derived by means of a presettable scaler coupled to the standard a-c power line (60 Hz) and is at a frequency in the order of 17/8, 33/4, 71/2 or 15 Hz.
When the fluid being metered takes the form of a coarse slurry containing solid particles such as sand, fly ash or salt which impinge on the surface of the electrodes as the slurry passes through the meter tube, it has been found that a substantial noise component is generated. This makes signal detection more difficult and in some instances impossible. The meter electrodes in combination with the fluid acting as an electrolyte define a galvanic cell, and when the solids in the slurry strike the electrodes and alter their interface to the fluid, this action brings about a rapid change in galvanic voltage, thereby generating low frequency noise.
A second source of noise arises when the flowmeter is run partially full. In the case of electrodes which make direct contact with the fluid, the resultant sloshing of the fluid on the surface of the electrodes produces excessive galvanic noise. In the case of electrodes which are capacitively coupled to the fluid, the sloshing action results in changes in dielectric constant (1 to 80) to produce capacitive noise.
Noise is any voltage that does not convey measurement information. Under the most favorable circumstances where noise has been minimized by filtering or other expedients, there are still certain sources of noise present resulting from the granular nature of matter and energy. While noise fluctuations may be small compared with the total energy transfer involved in most measurements, the existence of a noise background limits the ultimate sensitivity to which a measurement can be carried.
With electromagnetic flowmeters having a coil excited by an alternating current or a periodically interrupted direct current, when the fluid being metered is a slurry containing solid particles, a spectrum of noise voltages is generated. But the frequency components of this spectrum do not include the frequency of the standard a-c power line (i.e., 50 or 60 Hz). Hence in a magnetic flowmeter in which the excitation current is at the line frequency, no difficulty is experienced in discriminating between the flow-induced signal and noise components to provide a favorable signal-to-noise ratio.
But with an electromagnetic flowmeter of the above-described Mannherz type in which the excitation frequency is well below 60 Hz, it has been found that the frequency components of the noise spectrum actually lie within the excitation frequency range; hence discrimination between noise and signal cannot be effected by bandpass filtering, and the signal-to-noise ratio is unfavorable. Indeed, in some instances, the magnitude of the noise is of sufficient strength to cause a 100% output change in the converter, in addition to causing the average reading to be incorrect.